


the bruises prove it's real

by emmerrr



Series: To live will be an awfully big adventure [3]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Minor Injuries, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Post-Canon, Summer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-25 19:16:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20030971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmerrr/pseuds/emmerrr
Summary: Neil Josten is really bad at pool





	the bruises prove it's real

**Author's Note:**

> title is lyrics from bruises by sugarcult (and i can tell that i'm falling in love with you/ the bruises prove it's real) which seems very andreil appropriate somehow.
> 
> also this fic came about from a prompt list that i reblogged, but i prompted myself for this one: “Why is it suddenly purple?”

Summer had arrived hot and unrelenting, and Wymack had sent the Foxes off their separate ways with promises to check in regularly; Neil’s tumultuous freshman year had obviously done a number on his blood pressure.

After the dust had settled following their championship win against the Ravens, Kevin was sticking close to campus again, staying in Abby’s guest room as he came to terms with his complicated grief over Riko. Nicky had gotten on the first flight out to Germany that he could to stay with Erik, and Aaron took full advantage of being able to see Katelyn freely to spend most of his vacation with her.

Neil and Andrew had essentially been left on Kevin standby, sticking close enough to make it to the court should Kevin want to practice, but far enough away that they didn’t make him feel any worse when he was upset. Neil held far too much animosity towards Riko to be able to keep his mouth shut, and Andrew just didn’t have it in him to try and relate to Kevin’s grief. They had no sympathy to give.

They left him in the capable and much more comforting hands of Wymack and Abby, and headed off to the Columbia house instead with promises to head straight back if Kevin called and wanted to play.

It was the first time that Neil had been there with only Andrew for company. They were so used to having to steal pockets of time wherever they could, up on the roof away from the prying eyes of the rest of their teammates. It was a novelty to be able to kiss Andrew good morning, to share coffee and cigarettes in the morning, just the two of them.

Their ‘nothing’ had been upgraded to an unspoken ‘something’, and they were still settling into it, but Neil just felt so good about it. He had hold of it with both hands now, and he had no intention of letting go unless Andrew told him to.

So far, that hadn’t happened.

Without the usual structure of Exy and school, there were a lot more hours in the day to fill. Neil obviously made sure to go for a run every day, first thing in the morning before it got too hot. Andrew joined him on average about every other day, glaring the whole time. Neil wanted to do drills in the yard in the evening time but Andrew had staunchly refused to do anything Exy-related during the summer unless it was on the court with Kevin, because he had promised.

Instead, Neil came up with some new drills on his own, then wrote them down on paper, along with some new potential plays they could try out in the new season. He hadn’t wanted the vice-captaincy for obvious reasons, but those reasons were moot now, so he was going to give it everything he had.

He liked those quiet hours after they’d eaten, when they’d sit on the sofa with the TV on, Neil scribbling away in a notepad and Andrew watching game-shows or nature documentaries. Sometimes Andrew would toss his legs over Neil’s lap, and Neil would cover them with his free hand, absently rubbing his thumb across Andrew’s shin. Once or twice, Andrew even dropped his head onto Neil’s shoulder, lids low as he watched the TV and fought off sleep.

They were casual gestures, but Neil knew that Andrew would have exhaustively thought them through. The trust he was being awarded almost made him want to burst.

At night when they went to bed and Andrew pushed him into the mattress with kisses that Neil hoped would never end, he was reminded of the cabin after Baltimore, when he still thought Andrew was merely scratching an itch with him. It hadn’t even really been that long since then, and yet now Neil had the armbands Andrew had got for him, the ones that matched Andrew’s own. He’d had the silent admission from Andrew after the championship final that whatever they were doing together was real, that it meant something to the both of them.

And now, they were essentially vacationing together. Okay, so it was just the Columbia house, but _still. _They were the only ones there, and they had made that choice together.

They had a month before they had to be back at Palmetto full-time for summer practices, which sounded long but Neil knew would fly by. That being said, there was only so much they could do cooped up in the house without getting phenomenally bored, and even Andrew was starting to go a bit stir-crazy by the end of the first week.

They’d been for a couple of drives, but it was so hot that they never wanted to go that far, as extensive use of the air-conditioning had an impact on gas consumption and it was a pain to have to fill up so often, especially when they had to make trips back to the court for Kevin as well.

Andrew bought a paddling pool from the store when they did a groceries run, and filled it up out in the yard, setting up a deck chair next to it so he could stick his feet in and keep cool while napping in the sun. With his jeans rolled halfway up his shins and a neon-orange pair of sunglasses that belonged to Nicky over his eyes, Neil thought Andrew looked quite cute. He didn’t say that out loud, obviously, but Andrew caught him smiling at him.

“What,” he said flatly.

“Nothing at all,” Neil said with a grin, then jumped in the paddling pool and splashed a mightily unimpressed Andrew.

“I knew you were going to be trouble,” Andrew said, standing up and wringing out his soaked t-shirt over Neil’s head.

“You should’ve killed me when you had the chance.”

“Too fucking right.”

Eden’s held no appeal for Neil at the best of times, but even less so when the others weren’t there, and Andrew had a stash of booze at the house anyway so wasn’t bothered about going. They did make a couple of trips to Sweetie’s though, so that Andrew could eat his own ice-cream and then finish Neil’s leftovers.

Not far from Sweetie’s was an arcade, which was a decent time killer, so they pulled in on their way back to the house.

It wasn’t that busy, but Neil didn’t really feel like going on any of the video games. He wanted to play on the air-hockey table but there were a couple of kids occupying it and they didn’t look like they were going to leave any time soon.

“We could just kick them off,” Andrew said with a shrug. “We’re bigger than them.”

“Yeah, only just,” Neil smirked. He spotted the pool tables near the back, all of which were free. He looked at Andrew and raised a shoulder in question. “Fancy it?”

“Remember how shit you were at the cabin?”

“Okay, but in my defence my hands were still in bandages,” Neil said dryly. He lifted up his scarred hands and wiggled his fingers. “All healed.”

“I don’t think it’s going to make much difference, but okay,” Andrew said, and Neil led them to the nearest table.

Perhaps somewhat predictably, Andrew absolutely wiped the floor with Neil the first game, and then Neil’s competitive nature jumped out.

“I was just warming up,” he insisted. Andrew rolled his eyes and re-wracked the balls and, as the winner, got to break.

He’d pocketed about four balls before Neil even got a turn, and then he immediately miscued and accidentally sunk the cue ball.

“Oops,” Andrew commented.

“Alright, you know what, Minyard?” Neil said, retrieving the cue ball and passing it to Andrew, who cleared the table from there without Neil getting another chance.

Determined to sink at least _one _ball, Neil re-wracked again.

“I mean, at this point it’s just _sad,” _Andrew said, and Neil scowled up at him. He wasn’t too annoyed though, because Andrew was wearing a faint look of amusement, and Neil wanted to see how long it would stay there.

“Let me break this time,” he said.

“But I won.”

“I know. But you’re obviously so much better that you giving me a handicap shouldn’t matter,” Neil pointed out.

“You do need all the help you can get,” Andrew allowed, and stepped aside so Neil could take his shot.

He lined up his stick, quickly deciding that the harder he hit the cue ball, the better. It was physics. He drew his hand back and thrust it forward as hard as he could, slamming his finger into the side of the table with a crack.

The balls scattered, but Neil dropped his stick and immediately pulled his hand to his chest. Andrew was there in an instant.

"What did you do?"

"My finger... I smashed it into the table," Neil said. He felt the blood drain from his face in panic. His finger was throbbing where he'd hit it and he didn't want to look. He didn't know what he was going to do if it was broken; Abby no doubt wouldn't let him practice properly for weeks.

"Let me see," Andrew said, gently prying Neil's hand away from his chest. "How the fuck are you holding your pool cue?"

"Wrong, I guess," Neil said, eyes closed. He didn't want to see.

Andrew's tough was light on Neil's hand, but it was tender when he grazed across the injured finger. "That hurt?" he asked.

Neil nodded. "A little. It's not as bad as I thought it was."

"Try and bend it."

He slowly flexed his hand and then curled it into a fist. It stung, but not as much as it could have. He let out a sigh.

"It's not broken," Andrew said definitively.

Neil trusted him, and he opened his eyes and looked down. He spluttered. "Then why the fuck is it suddenly _purple?" _His finger was a little swollen and was indeed turning a little purple in the middle where the bone was.

Andrew put his hand on the back of Neil's neck, and it was instantly calming. "Relax, it's gonna be a bad bruise, that's all."

Neil sighed. "Can we go now?" he said quietly.

"Yep," Andrew said. "We're gonna get you an ice-pack to put on that."

Neil followed him out of the arcade and into the Maserati. He was quiet on the quick drive home, bending his finger a couple more times just so he was sure of his own mobility.

"Stop that. You're just gonna aggravate it," Andrew snapped as they pulled into the drive.

He sat Neil down on the sofa and brought out some frozen peas. "Hold these against your finger," he said, then disappeared again. Neil could hear him rustling around in the bathroom, and a moment later he reappeared with some medical tape.

He nodded at Neil's hand. "That helping with the swelling?"

Neil had a look and nodded.

"Keep it on there for another five minutes."

"But it's cold," Neil said petulantly.

"My heart bleeds," Andrew deadpanned, and sat beside him on the sofa. As they were waiting for the five minutes to be up, both of their phones buzzed and Andrew picked his up to check. He rolled his eyes as he read the message then tossed the phone aside. "We've been summoned. Kevin wants us at the court in the morning."

Neil pulled the peas away from his finger. The swelling had gone down but it still looked quite angry and he knew it would impede him a little bit in practice for a couple of days. "He's going to _kill _me," he said.

"Yeah," Andrew said, and he smiled. "Can I tell him what you did?"

"I love that you're enjoying this," Neil said sarcastically, but when Andrew leaned in to kiss him, he melted into it anyway.

Andrew pulled away, then busied himself strapping Neil's injured finger to the one next to it. "Just to keep it straight while you sleep," Andrew said when he was finished. Then he passed the peas back. "Keep those on for a while. Then Abby can check it for you tomorrow. But it should be fine."

Neil couldn't help but smile, settling more comfortably in the sofa cushions. Andrew's arm closed over his shoulder and Neil snuggled as close as he thought he could get away with.

"Are you taking care of me?" he asked.

Andrew sighed. "I'm cleaning up after your stupidity," he said.

Neil grinned. "I don't see the difference."

Andrew flicked his nose. "Nobody likes a smart-mouth."

"Except you," Neil said, and his smile spread. "We've been through this, Andrew."

"I know," Andrew sighed. "I'm a glutton for punishment." He kissed Neil again, ending the conversation very effectively.

The next day at the court, Kevin took one look at Neil's bandaged hand and went almost as purple as Neil's finger had been the night before.

"What the shit did you _do?"_

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact: when i was in 6th form i did exactly what neil does in this fic whilst playing pool. it REALLY HURT but was not broken, and yes, i AM an idiot


End file.
